Look After You - A Louis Tomlinson Love Story

Chapter 36: Up All Night

The next day was pretty crazy. We had all decided to go back to the ship since there was still a ton of stuff we hadn't seen. Sadly, Claire could not ditch studying for her Chemistry class to come with us. So for today it was just the boys, my mom, and me. We surprised my dad on the ship at around ten. It was now eleven and we were being given a tour of the "below decks" part of this ship.

Honest to God, this place was huge. If you didn't think it was very big on the outside, try the inside. The hallways may be cramped, but ever side is filled with an endless set of rooms. Louis and I stood behind the rest of the boys, my mother, and my father. I followed the group towards a room that had something to do with international conferences. I felt something touch my hand and I looked down to see Louis sliding his fingers in between mine and squeezing my hand softly. I looked up at him and he blushed, which made me laugh. Everyone turned to see what I was laughing about, but instead Louis dropped my hand and we stood there in all seriousness. Finally everyone turned back around and this time we giggled silently to ourselves.

A few rooms later we arrived at everyone's favorite: the mess hall. The mess hall on the aircraft carrier was much bigger than the ones on usual ships: complete with three TV's, tons of tables, and even some games like foosball and air hockey. At the end of the room was the kitchen, where the workers seemed to be making some lunch for the crew. I looked around and didn't see too many crewmembers: maybe five or six at the most. Everyone must still be on duty. Oh well, more fun for us.

"Okay so the first crew on break should be coming in at about noon, giving you pretty much ten minutes to grab some food and a seat before you're invaded by those filthy navy-dogs." my dad said and we all laughed at what he called his co-workers.

"I'm going to go check up on some things, I'll be back later. Alright?" he looked between me, my mom, and Harry. We all nodded and he ran down the hallway back up to the flight deck. I then turned away and headed in the opposite direction towards the kitchen.

"Hi. You're the Commanders kids, right? I'm Bailey, one of the cooks here." A girl who looked about 25 looked at Harry and I. I smiled at her and she smiled back. It was so weird that someone who looked about as old as me was working in the navy with my dad.

"I'm Ashley. That's Harry." I looked over at my brother, who was still smiling at her. Was something going on or what?

"Oh, you're the soccer player! And you're the singer!" she looked shocked as she pointed to us while jumping up and down.

"Yeah. So, whatcha got for lunch?" I asked her, trying to change the subject from soccer. Every time I heard something about my soccer career, I could only remember the fact that I wouldn't be able to play anymore.

"Oh! Today we're serving Chicken and Pasta. Nothing too fancy, but that's what we've got. Do you all want some?" she asked and we all nodded. We headed to the end of the room where the metal trays were set up and each picked one and placed it along the top of the short glass wall in front of the kitchen. There we were each given a piece of grilled chicken, a large scoop of pasta, and a roll. I stepped away and headed over to grab a Pepsi from the fridge before taking my seat at a long table big enough to sit about six of us. I sat down and a few seconds behind me were Louis and Harry, who gladly sat on either side of me. Next came Niall, Zayn, and Liam so our table was actually full. My mom, sadly, sat across from us at a smaller table made for only two people. But she wasn't alone for too long as about five minutes after we sat down my father came back in and stole the seat next to her before any of the crewmembers behind him could.

It was getting louder and louder in the mess hall and now there were probably about forty people opposed to the five or six earlier. I took a sip of my Pepsi while Zayn told us all about something that had happened recently in his hometown of Bradford. Once he finished, I turned to my left to see Louis staring at me. I raised an eyebrow and he smiled before putting his arm around the back of my chair.